Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. climate secretariat, warned of the destabilizing effects created by growing water stress, declining crop yields and damage from extreme storms in some of the world's poorest countries, which could set off mass international migration and regional conflicts.

Figueres said the world's military budgets grew by 50 percent in the first nine years of this century. Rather than continue that growth in weaponry, she said, the generals should invest in preventative budgets to "avoid the climate chaos that would demand a defense response that makes even today's spending burden look light." []

Figueres said much of the funding that pays for the growth of armies today could help curb carbon emissions that fuel global warming. It also could help poor countries in the most vulnerable and unstable parts of the world to protect themselves from the most devastating effects of climate change.

An unpublished report acquired by Le Devoir shows the Canadian Forces are preparing to respond to more disasters, fighting, and general insecurity as a result of climate change and peak oil and other resource shortages.

The 176-report, L'environnement de la sécurité future 2008-2030 was approved by General Staff Headquarters of Defense in January 2009.

From Le Devoir (translated from French):

Conflict for control of resources within fragile states, including guerrillas, are expected. It will probably be necessary to conduct humanitarian missions to rescue people deprived of everything after a disaster, and possibly stabilization missions or reconstruction if civil unrest and instability lead to conflicts between peoples” military strategists write.

By 2030, environmental problems and scarcity of food and water, threaten to destabilize entire regions, they still feel. “It could be that the pressures caused by migration and the influx of refugees or displaced persons cause a resurgence of ethnic tensions, religious or territorial, instability and perhaps the collapse of states. These effects manifest themselves more in coastal areas (where lives 75% of world population), especially among groups of individuals, economic sectors and localities >that are already economically or environmentally sensitive to climate >variations. ”

And a specific reference to peak oil:

Operations which will also increasingly difficult to achieve as the oil will be scarce. The expected decline in fossil fuel resources and the simultaneous rise in oil prices will force the MoD to find alternative energy sources for military equipment. Rising fuel prices will drive the cost prohibitive, not to mention the cost of operations in the country or even abroad, which will strain an already tight budget. It will primarily carry out research and development to find forms of alternative fuels.

More at Le Devoir.